Pay it Forward

Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin
Penguin

No matter how you look at it, Greg Mortensen is a hero.  Here is a man who, while climbing down from K2, gets lost and ends up in some remote Pakistani mountain village.  While there, he recovers from his mountaineering ordeal and decides to give back to the people who took him in by building a school.

He returns to the States and starts to raise the required funds.  This is a dedicated man.  While he doesn't really have a clue as to what to do and how to do it, he has the passion and determination to move it forward.  At the end of the day, it takes him a couple of years to deliver on his promise -- he raises the money, navigates the hardships of getting something done in a country plagued by war, corruption, and poverty, and manages to mitigate the challenges of a harsh geography.  He is a hero because he doesn't ever stop.  He has built more schools, educated more kids, and expanded his program to include community ateliers.  He has also taken his initiative into additional countries.  Today, he is building schools in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and he is trying to bring peace through education.

Please read this book if for no other reason than to prove to yourself that one person can make a difference.   This is activism at its best and Dr. Greg is definitely an inspiration.